Anyone who grows tomatoes in their home knows that this activity entails many challenges. It can be frustrating when you manage to cultivate a healthy tomato plant, but you spot that the area around its stem refuses to change color.
It is typical for the stem end of some tomatoes to have a touch green even after they are fully ripe. Checking to see if the stem end is the wrong color and is hard to the touch might help you tell if its shoulders are green or yellow. If you bite into the fruit, you will discover that it is not as sweet as it used to be.
In this article, we will share with you all about the green and yellow shoulders of tomatoes and valuable tips in gardening them.
Tomatoes’ Green Shoulders
In an unripe tomato, the chlorophyll begins to degrade at the blossom end and continues throughout the fruit. When the chlorophyll in the fruit does not break down as quickly as it should, or if it does, green shoulders appear.
This can happen for a variety of reasons, both of which are weather-related. For starters, too much direct sun exposure might create green shoulders. These symptoms may also appear when temperatures stay high for an extended time.
Tomatoes’ Yellow Shoulders
The same condition for green shoulders does not cause yellow shoulders. If the stem end of your tomatoes is yellow, it signifies the fruit could not develop lycopene, the antioxidant and red-colored pigment that gives tomatoes their color.
When the temperature reaches beyond 75 degrees Fahrenheit, lycopene production slows down. As a result, it becomes similar to green shoulders, but a different pigment causes it.
Can You Eat Tomatoes with Green and Yellow Shoulders?
The rest of the tomato should be excellent, even if the green or yellow shoulders are hard and unpleasant to eat. Simply slice through the hard, unripe top and enjoy. This makes a tomato you grow at home to be a lot more palatable.
How to Avoid Growing Tomatoes with Green or Yellow Shoulders
It may be too late to address the problem if you discover green or yellow shoulders on your ripening tomatoes. There is almost nothing you can do about it until the last symptom comes, like with blossom end rot. The good news is you may try to avoid these shoulder issues by taking a few actions ahead of time.
Make sure they have lots of foliage to protect the fruits of your tomato plants. Tomato plants love heat and need enough sunlight to mature their fruits, but you do not have to directly expose them to the sun to turn ripe.
The fruits will enjoy some shade if it has been a particularly scorching summer. Additionally, tomatoes are not usually labeled as resistant to green or yellow shoulders, but you might locate descriptions that inform you when a particular variety is susceptible.
Conclusion
During a hot summer when all of your tomatoes appear to be experiencing shoulder issues, you can try plucking them when they are only beginning to flush red. You could also remove them from the sun to finish ripening them. However, it is only recommended in extreme instances because it may jeopardize some of the tastes that the vine has already developed.
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